Interesting Facts – Agriculture was the foundation of the Ancient Greek economy and nearly 80% of the population was involved in this activity. During the early part of Greek history agriculture was based on cereals, such as barley, Durum wheat and, less commonly, millet or common wheat. Their value at the time was very small (you could buy a gum at the time – now however has a greater value (real and sentimental)

1971 5 lepta coins have a small hole on their center, smaller than the 1954 similar coins

Obverse – Lettering: Estados Unidos Mexicanos – Proof national Coat of Arms on a mirror-finish background. A golden eagle stands on a cactus, devouring a serpent

Reverse – The reverse features the denomination of 25 Pesos along with a soccer ball within net and the logo for the 1986 World Cup, and below that, the Mexican Mint mint mark. Along the right border is “Copa Mundial De Futbol” (World Cup of Football).Lettering: Copa Mundial De Futbol – Mexico 86 – 1986

Metal – Silver 1/4 oz

Fineness – 92,5%

Condition – Proof

Collection – Giannis Koromilas

Diameter – 26.0 mm

Weight – 8,41 gr

Edge – Smooth

Melt Value – 7.09 USD (as of 28/03/2013)

Value – 15,00 USD (Source NGC Coins)

Krause : KM#519

This 1985 Mexican 25 Peso ¼ oz “World Cup” Proof Silver Coin was part of a series of commemorative coins celebrating Mexico’s hosting of the 1986 World Cup. This coin was also offered as Proof in 1986 individually and as part of a set. This coin contains 1/4 oz of silver and comes with the official 1986 World Cup logo.

This important coin was the first Washington quarter without the eagle reverse! Issued more than two decades before the 50 State series, this original no-eagle quarter with the Colonial Drummer reverse is needed by any collector putting together a date and mint mark set of Washington or Statehood quarters – no collection is complete without it! And this 1776-1976 Bicentennial quarter isn`t just any quarter… it`s a Proof from San Francisco created especially for collectors. Instead of the usual copper-nickel clad, this quarter was minted in 40% silver. Plus, it has the lowest mintage of all 1976 Washington quarter issues. While regular-issue Bicentennial quarters are occasionally found in pocket change, this special 40% silver Choice Proof coin is not. Don`t miss your opportunity to add the very first no-eagle Bicentennial quarter to your collection!

Interesting Facts – The dies bearing the young portrait of King George A’ were used for the gold coins (9294 pcs mintage). Due to the low mintage their prices exceeds 2500 euros in auctions wherever you may see them

Head Of State – King Otto BavariaMint – MunichObverse – Inscription (Kingdom of Greece), Shield with crosee under crown

Reverse – Denomination (1 Lepto), Date (1832)

Metal –Copper

Condition – Uncirculated

Creator – Konrad Lange

Edge – Reeded

Mintage – 2,200,000

Diameter – 16,60 mm

Weight – 1.29 gr

Interesting Facts – All of Otto’s coins were minted with a reeded edge.In 1850, a meal including meat bought in a typical restaurant in Athens costed 30 lepta.At the same time a civil servant’s (high ranking officer at a ministry) monthly salary amounted to 300 drachmas .Otto’s copper coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1870 under law 356

The biggest money makers in England were throwing away their change in the Solent this week. Where dropping a couple of quid in the sea would usually irk holidaymakers, The Royal Mint has joyfully bobbed a three-metre replica of its current Mary Rose £2 coin on the exact ocean spot where the famous ship sank 500 years ago.

Floated by a team of divers and excavators above the seabed where the Tudor wreck was raised in 1982, the nautical stunt was backed by the Mary Rose Trust and the Royal Navy Fleet Diving Squadron. “In our 1,000-year history, we have never floated a coin before,” admitted Shane Bissett, the Mint’s man for all things commemorative who has overseen the creation of more than 1,500 precious metal versions of the coin, struck in 22-carat gold.

“There seemed no better way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of such an iconic vessel. We produced the Mary Rose coin as a tribute to the world’s only surviving Tudor warship, and hope it serves as a reminder of Britain’s rich heritage as a maritime nation. Executing the idea at sea was an honour as we remember our naval past and look to its future.”

That future includes a new Mary Rose Museum planned for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in 2012. Planners for the site are expecting their adventures to encourage potential visitors to support their fundraising mission. “Our hope is that people will send a Mary Rose £2 coin back to us here in Portsmouth to help us achieve our target,” said John Lippiett, the Chief Executive of the Trust.

“We have much work to do to secure the future of the ship and we are grateful to everyone who supports our fundraising drive to help us build the new Mary Rose Museum here in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.”

A new €50 World Design Capital Helsinki coin has been released by Mint of Finland during World Money Fair in Berlin. The 50 euros gold and silver coin minted to commemorate Helsinki as a 2012 World Design Capital awarded by International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. Only 5,000 pieces of this coins are minted by the Mint and it came with a beautiful gift package. The collector coin marking this momentous year has been designed by the designer Henna Lamberg. A 5 euro Aluminium-Bronze metal coin with the same design also has been released.

On the obverse show alternative smooth and uneven surfaces including triangular and peaked effects that give it a distinctive look and tactile attributes resulting in a three-dimensional appearance. The text on the coin reads “WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL HELSINKI 2012” and is placed around the inner disc which is off-center. The Mint’s logo appears towards the end of the legend.

On the reverse show an opposite illustration of the center disc as seen on the obverse and also includes the coin’s denomination positioned at the top along with free-style and directional linear additions all around the center disc which are recessed into the silver ring. The text “SUOMI FINLAND” is also seen towards the lower portion.

There is a massive amount of energy underlying the silver market,and when it is ready to unleash, we will see price/value increases that will stun even the most ardent silverbugs…The real power of this expected move is likely to be released only some time after the price of silver has surpassed the $50/ozt. level. [Let me explain.]

So says Hurbert Moolman (www.hubertmoolman.wordpress.com) in edited excerpts from his original article*.

Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com (A site for sore eyes and inquisitive minds) and www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!) has edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) the article below for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. The article’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article. Please note that this paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.

There are some similarities in the current silver market compared with the 1970s….[as can be seen below when] the silver price chart of January 1978—August 1979 [is compared] to the period from January 2009—present (charts generated at barchart.com). I [have chosen] those timeframes because price broke out of the significant high (for the relevant decade) around those periods. I have drawn a blue line at the level of the relevant significant high.

Note [above] how the run-up to the blue line is visually similar in both cases. After going through the blue line, price rallied significantly until it peaked at point b (in both cases). It then corrected/consolidated forming a flag/pennant type formation.

[Also] note [above] that in the 70s and in the current chart, price corrected to just above the blue line. It does not mean it cannot still move to the blue line, since, to stay valid, it just needs to stay at or above the blue line…Currently, I do not see any evidence that we will still go lower than the $26 level. The comparison suggests that we should now rally towards point d and eventually go higher than point b ($50).

The flag pattern forming currently is significantly bigger (in price movement) relative to that of the 1970s. This is possibly indicating that this fractal pattern is growing significantly, which could mean, going forward, bigger price increases relative to the price increases of the 1970s.

The move from point a to point b, on the bottom chart, was remarkable. It took silver from about $17.50 to about $50, a 185% increase. Compare that to the 1970s move of 33.33% (from about $6 to $8). To me, this signals that silver has changed gears (big-time) relative to the 1970s.

Below is a graphic that compares the gold chart [top] from 2007 to today, to the silver chart [bottom] from 2008 to 2010 in which I have highlighted how similar patterns exist on both charts. On both charts are ascending triangles out of which price broke out to the upside. After the breakout, price increased significantly from where both formed a consolidation pattern.

The ascending triangle for silver (roughly 30 months) is much bigger than that of gold (roughly 19 months) [while] the consolidation patterns for both charts took roughly the same amount of time to form, relative to their ascending triangles (about half the time of the triangles). Based on this comparison, it would seem that silverwas at point 0 on 29 December 2011, and it is now busy making its way toward the blue line and will eventually pass the $50 level, just like the comparison to the 70s chart suggest.

Also, if you compare the price movement for silver after it broke out of the triangle to that of gold’s movement, you will notice that there is a huge difference. Gold moved from about $1000 to $1227 (a 22.7% increase), whereas silver moved from about $21 to about $50 (a 138% increase). This, to me, says that there is a massive amount of energy underlying the silver market, and when it is ready to unleash, we will see price/value increases that will stun even the most ardent silverbugs.

The kind of movement we’ve seen since silver has moved out of the triangle is normally associated with moves at the end of a big move. So, either that move was the end of silver’s big move, or it was just an unusually big beginning of a really big move, which suggests we will have an unusually big end of a big move (still to come). Again, I see no evidence to suggest that anything we’ve seen so far was the end of the silver bull market, so I am expecting the latter (i.e. a very powerful upleg yet to unfold).

The real power of this expected move is likely to be released only some time after price has surpassed the $50 level.